Last week was the straw vote; this time, the Montgomery County Council vote on the budget was final. And it included a 4.7% property tax increase.
“While there may be disagreements about this budget, there should be no disagreement that this budget process has been more transparent than any other in recent memory,” Council President Evan Glass said following Thursday’s vote.
Hours after the 10-1 vote, with the lone no vote from Council member Kristin Mink, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich criticized the process.
“These final cuts were done in secrecy, without any record of which council member voted for or against any of these items,” Elrich said during his weekly briefing.
Elrich was referring to a list of items that council members had listed as both “high priority” and “priority.”
During last week’s straw vote by the council, Mink made a similar objection to the budget process.
The overall operating budget totals $6.7 billion, with $3.1 billion going to the Montgomery County Public School system. The council also voted to approve a $5.7 billion capital budget.
Both budgets take effect July 1.
